Ice making unit



Sept. 10, 1957 R. G. HlLGl-:R

ICE MAKING UNIT Filed March 21, 1955 Wm @y United States Patent ICEMAmNG UNIT Raymond G. Hilger, Chicago, Ill.

Application March 21, 1955, Serial No. 495,408

3 Claims. (Cl. 62-107) The invention relates to refrigerating unitsgenerally and more particularly to units of the type adapted for directcontact with liquid or gaseous substances to be chilled.

One object of the invention is to provide a refrigerating unit of theabove general character constructed and arranged for eicient applicationof either a liquid or gaseous defrosting medium whereby the unit may bequickly cleared of accumulations of frost or ice and in which thedefrosting medium is effectively segregated from the refrigerant andfrom the substance being chilled by the unit.

Another object is to provide a refrigerating unit which, considering itssize, presents an exceptionally large effective area for quickly andeticiently producing sheets or slabs of ice and in which the surfaces ofsuch areas are smoothly finished and oriented so that the accumulatedice can slide or fall off freely when loosened by a momentaryapplication of heat to the unit.

A further object is to provide an efficient, light weight refrigeratingunit that is simple yet rugged and durable, that can be fabricated fromchilling elements that are commercially available and relativelyinexpensive, all of which contribute to the low cost of production ofthe unit.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will become apparent fromthe following detailed description of the preferred embodimentillustrated in the accompanying drawing, in which:

Figure l is -a perspective view of a refrigerating unit embodying thefeatures of the invention.

Fig. 2 is an exploded perspective view of the unit showing theconfiguration of the various parts and the manner in which they areassembled and interrelated to form a complete unit.

Fig. 3 is a sectional View through the unit taken in a vertical planesubstantially on the line 3--3 of Fig. l.

While a single preferred embodiment of the inven tion has been shown andwill be described herein, it is to be understood that this detaileddisclosure is not intended to limit the invention to the specificconstruction shown. On the contrary, the intention is to cover allmodications and alternative constructions falling within the spirit andscope of the invention as expressed in the appended claims.

The improved cooling unit in its preferred form as shown in Fig. lcomprises a hollow, box-like sheet metal structure 5 which is generallytrapezoidal in Vertical trans verse cross-section. More particularly,the unit has two flat side walls 6 and 7 of relatively large area,relatively closely spaced at their upper edges and joined together by aV-shaped top member 8. The side wall members diverge outwardly towardtheir lower edges which are joined by an inverted V-shaped bottom member9. End wall members 10 and 11 (Fig. 2) Welded or otherwise joined to theside, top and bottom members close the opposite ends of the structure toform a liquid-tight chamber.

intimately associated with the inner face of each of the side wallmembers 6 and 8 is a coil, or the like,

ice

0 sired.

A refrigerant, such as liquid ammonia, Freon, or chilled brinecirculating through the channels 12 quickly lowers the temperature ofthe sidewall members for cooling vliquids or gases in contact with theirouter faces. The

location of the coils on the inner faces of the side wall members makesit possible to nish the outer faces with a smooth surface from whichaccumulations of ice or frost can be easily freed by application of arelatively small amount of heat to the inner faces of the members. Withthe particular shaping of the unit shown, the side wall members aredisposed in a generally upright position, slightly inclined to the:vertical so that the ice or frost accumulations will slide off cleanlyWhen loosened by a slight increase in the temperautre of the wallmembers.

The improved unit is particularly well adapted for defrosting by .theuse of the heated liquids or gases readily available in refrigeratingsystems. TheY liquid or gaseous defrosting, medium is simply introducedinto the chamber provided between the side wall members while thecirculation of refrigerant through the channels 12 is temporarilyinterrupted. For this purpose suitable ports 15 and 16 are provided inone of the end members, in this instance, the end member 11 (Fig. 2) forintroducing and withdrawing the defrosting medium.

To produce a unit of high efficiency and yet maintain manufacturingcosts low, I prefer to utilize as side wall members commerciallyavailable cooling plates with the refrigerant channels 12 formeddirectly therein. Such plates, commonly known in the art as platecoils,are made up of two metal sheets, one of which is formed with a groove`of serpentine or other suitable conguration for delining theVcontinuous refrigerant passage or channel 12. The other sheet isassembled in overlying relation to the first sheet to :close the openside of the groove, and the sheets are rigidly and permanently joinedtogether by Welding, brazing, or otherwise.

As shown in Fig. 2, the side wall members, whether platecoils or othercomparable cooling plates, are generally rectangular in form anddimensioned to present a heat exchange surface of substantial area.While the upper edges of the two members may be Welded together, ifdesired, I have found it preferable to join them by means of a V-shapedtop member S. This may be a simple sheet metal stamping of the samelength as the side wall members and having its legs dimensioned and bentto overlap the upper edges of the wall members for welding or brazingthereto so as to provide a fluidtght joint.

As the side wall members diverge toward their lower edges, the bottommember 9 is made substantially Wider than the top member 8. Preferably,this bottom member is a V-shaped metal stamping formed with inbentflanges 17 along the upper edge of each leg. These flanges may betelescoped between the side members 6 and Welded or brazed to the loweredges of the members. It will be apparent that the side, top and bottommembers when assembled in the above manner define a hollow box oftrapezoidal section in a vertical plane.

The end members 10 and 11 which close the ends of the chamber are simplesheet metal stampings shaped to overlie the ends of the companionmembers to which they are attached by welding or brazing. To Provideaccess to the ports 13 and 14 of the refrigerant channels 12, the endmembers are apertured for the reception of nipples 1S and 19respectively inserted in the ports 13 and 14 and welded or brazedV tothe adjacent channelforming structure. i

In the particular unit illustrated, end member 1Q is formed withapertures for accommodating the nipples 19 leading from the outlet ports14 of the respective iside wall members.' Similarly, end member 11 isformed with apertures 21 for accommodating the nipples 18 leading fromthe inlet ports 13. Suitable gaskets of packing may be provided betweenthe nipples and the end members to prevent leakage, or alternatively,the nipples may be welded or brazed to the end members. Nipples 22 andV23 inserted in the ports 15 and 16 and welded to the member V11provided for convenient attachment to the refrigerating system forcirculating defrosting medium through the interior of the unit.

When installed in a refrigerating system, two cooling plates of the unitmay be connected in parallel. Thus the nipples 18 for the refrigerantchannel inlets are connected by elbows 24, short lengths of tubing 25,and a T-iitting 26 with a refrigerant supply conduit 27. Similarly, thenipples 19 for the channel outlets 14 are connected by elbows 28, shortlengths of tubing 29, and a T-tting 3@ to the suction line 31 of therefrigerating system.

The unique shape of the cooling-unit makes it particularly suitable forVfreezing thin sheets or cakes of ice or for cooling liquids by directContact. The'liquid to be frozen or Achilled is directed over bothcooling plates in a thin uniform lm by a suitable header 32 adjacent theupper end of the unit. This header may conveniently comprise a piece ofpipe or tubing split longitudinally along one side as at'33 and spreadapart so as to straddle the tl-shaped top .member 8 ofV the unit asshown in Fig. l. To provide an outlet of uniform cross-sectional areafromthe header, the'edges may be formed with spaced projections 34adapted to bear against the top member. it will be understood, ofcourse, that one end of the header is closed while the other isconnected by suitable piping Ywith the liquid circulating system.

It will beV apparent from the foregoing that the invention provides arefrigerating unit of novel and advantageous constructon, particularlysuitable for chilling liquids and gases by direct contact. Thin sheetsor slabs of ice may be quickly and efficiently produced by the unit andremoval of the sheet of ice or frost accumulations on the side plates iseffected quickly by a momentary application of a liquid or gaseousdefrosting medium. Since s Y 4 the improved unit effectively segregatesthe defrosting rnedium from the refrigerant and from the substance beingchilled, heated water or hot gases readily available in refrigeratingsystems can be conveniently used for defrosting purposes.

I claim as my invention:

l. A refrigerating unit comprising, in combination, a pair of sheetmetal side wall members of substantial area disposed in oppositelyinclined intersecting planes, means dening a continuous channelintimately and continuously associated with the inner face of eachmember and disposed so as to chill the entire surface of Ythe membersuiiciently to form ice on its outer face when a re frigerant iscirculated through the channel, top, bottom and end members assembledwith and joined to said side members to deline a liquid-tight chamberbetween the side members completely isolated from said channel, said topand bottom members comprising V-shaped metal stampings having their edgeportions joining the respective upper and lower edge portions of theside members in a continuous liquid-tight joint, a header supportedadjacent the top member for directing liquid to be cooled over thesidewall members in a relatively thin lm, one of said end members havinginlet and outlet ports communicating with said chamber for introducingand withdrawing therefrom la uid defrosting medium eective to raiseftheYtemperature of the members above the freezing pointsaid Yside wallmembers presenting smooth, steeply sloping outer faces from whichaccumulated ice can fall freely upon introduction off the defrostingmedium to said chamber. n,

2. A refrigerating unit as defined in claim lin which each of the sideWall members comprises a pair of relatively thin metal sheets securedtogether in face-to-face relation, one of said sheets' being suitablygrooved to dene the refrigerant channel.

.3. A'refrigerating unit as dened in claim l in which one of the endmembers is apertured to provide for connection ofthe ends of thelrefrigerant channel with a refrigerant circulating system.

References Citedin the tile of this patentV UNITED STATES PATENTS1,937,804 Barnum Dec. 5, 1933 2,271,648 Kleist Feb. 3, 1942 2,288,003Kleucker June 30, 19.42 2,682,155 Ayres' June 29, 1954 2,683,359 GreenJuly 13, 1954 2,724,246 Lowe Nov. 22, 1955 2,729,070

Ames Ian. 3, 1956

